More Release Radar
Yes, I’m cherry-picking, these are just a handful of the cuts I listened to on my “Your Release Radar” playlist, but they’re the ones that got me to react. It’s positively thrilling to be exposed to new music, to stop looking in the rearview mirror and turn your head forward, especially when you’re exposed to stuff that’s previously unknown to you, like Luke Winslow-King’s “I’m Glad Trouble Don’t Last Always,” the final cut below, if you’re pressed for time read about and listen to it first, it’s a winner!
“Hold On, I’m Coming”
Melissa Etheridge
Completely superfluous, not bad, but unnecessary. The last refuge of a has-been, a COVERS ALBUM! And isn’t it funny that it’s always whites covering blacks. I’m waiting for a black act to cover Night Ranger and Styx, HA!
“This House Is Not For Sale”
Bon Jovi
More of the same, but in this case mixed to a miasma that’s impenetrable, and did Jon always sing in this stylized voice, or is that just frustration that he can’t get arrested on wax.
He needs a new producer with a more modern and less dense sound. And sure, it’s got an arena rock chorus, once again, poorly mixed, with the vocal too far down, but this is really self-parody. He needs to work with Dave Cobb….
“Kiss The Sky”
Jason Derulo
This is fantastic, from Derulo’s greatest hits album. Sounds generic at first, but as it plays out you get hooked.
If we were living in the eighties, in a monoculture, with MTV ruling, everybody would know Derulo’s name, but now…
He’s part of the pop ghetto. (I know, that’s a dangerous word, fraught with subtext, but pop is a minority, even if it’s the loudest sound in a sea of noise, but my point is you think you’re winning when you’re on Top Forty but so many people don’t tune in but so many of these records…those not paying attention would like them, if they ever heard them.)
“Waiting For The Thunder”
Blackberry Smoke
If you were a fan of southern rock crossed with Foghat you’ll be stunned that a modern band has synthesized something new out of what once was, with an anthemic chorus putting it over the top. Sure, this is nearly paint-by-numbers, but it’s solid. If we were in the heyday of AOR, during the seventies, this would sit right next to the Outlaws just fine, you’d like it, you’d see them as the middle band in a triple bill.
“I’m Glad Trouble Don’t Last Always”
Luke Winslow-King
And here’s the winner. By someone I’ve never heard of, doing that swamp rock sound, hearkening back to what once was without being pure nostalgia, with a big fat chorus to boot, this unheralded nobody is doing soulful blues rock better than Eric Clapton, all the old farts should track this guy down and play with him, to reinvigorate themselves, you can’t think too much, you’ve just got to strap on the axe, turn up the amp, step up to the mic and feel the power, that’s right, rock music is all about feel, something that starts in the heart and then migrates to the genitals, gets your whole body shaking, the problem with too much of today’s music is it appeals to the brain, and in music, thinking is always secondary to feel.
This is on Bloodshot, most famous for releasing Ryan Adams’s “Heartbreaker,” how does an indie label survive, one that cannot participate in 360 degrees of revenue, they must be doing it for the love of it.
And “Your Release Radar” relies not on radio, it’s not part of the winning through relationships and intimidation game, rather it’s all driven by science, algorithms, so something can surface if it’s good, and “I’m Glad Trouble Don’t Last Always” is…good, that is, it’s heavy without being fake, bass-driven but not bass-dominated. CHECK IT OUT!
